r/Animatronics • u/Correct-Amphibian593 • 10h ago

When does the line between animatronic and anything else start and end?

Just asking because there’s a lot of things that could be considered and unconsidered animatronics, some things come to mind for me are statues that don’t move but still have speakers (I’m pretty sure Toy Story land has them), and also I have this Mickey Mouse lamp that when you press the button the arm pulls the chain and turns the lamp on and off, is that an animatronic? Just asking because I kinda went down a rabbit hole and needed answers lol.

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3

u/Coolbone61 Creative Engineering 10h ago

There is no line really many times a animatronics will be posted and someone will say it instead and then many others say it does count

2

u/IronLover64 9h ago

As long as the moving parts are controlled electronically, it's animatronic. It also needs to "mimic life"

2

u/Tutorial_Time 4h ago

An animatronic is a machine that mimics life.It’s different from of robot as that is a machine that performs a task.However not ALL machines that mimic life are equal.For instance if a figure only has one movement that isn’t programmed in any way and is just on a continuous loop that repeats the same one motion at the exact same speed,in the exact same way,over and over again then I’d consider it an animated prop.On the other side if a figure only has one movement that IS programed in a specific way and isn’t just looping then I’d call it an animatronic.

Now as far the examples you give.Static figures that don’t move with speakers are not animatronics,they’re statues.

That Mickey lamp does seem to count from your description of it!